This is a post about the most underrated summer destinations in Europe you should visit.
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There’s a version of a European summer that involves queuing in 35°C heat, paying 6€ for a coffee in Dubrovnik’s old town and fighting for space on a Santorini sunset terrace. I’ve done parts of that version.
But some of the best summer trips I’ve taken have been to places that weren’t on anyone’s radar yet and the difference is hard to overstate.
These are genuinely brilliant destinations that sit just outside the mainstream. Vibrant capitals that get unfairly overlooked. Coastlines that haven’t been packaged to death (although Albania’s coast has recently (ish) become very popular!). Lake towns that look like someone painted them.
All of them are worth your summer more than a lot of the places you’ve probably already been.
QUICK GUIDE: Underrated Summer Europe
📍 Destinations: Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Poland, Turkey
📅 Best months: June and September
💰 Budget: Mostly much cheaper than Western Europe
💱 Currency: Euro (Montenegro, Slovenia) / Lek (Albania) / Denar (North Macedonia) / Złoty (Poland) / Lira (Turkey)
🚌 Getting around: Buses for the Balkans, trains for Poland and Slovenia, hire a car for Albania and Montenegro
🏨 Book ahead: Even lesser-known spots sell out in July and August
Tirana + Albania Riviera
Most people pass through Tirana on the way to the Albanian Riviera and treat it as a stopover.
Personally, I think that is a mistake.
Tirana is such a vibrant city! Colourful, fast-moving, warm and nothing like the grey post-communist capital people assume it to be. It genuinely gave me Brazil vibes. It’s not like Brazil but it has that warm, vibrant and friendly vibe.
The Blloku district, once the exclusive preserve of the communist elite, is now the heart of the city’s bar and café scene. Streets lined with terraces, excellent espresso and the general vibe of a city that’s figured out how to enjoy itself.
The National History Museum is worth a couple of hours if you want to understand Albania’s extraordinary twentieth century. Sadly, it’s currently closed until 2028. The pyramid-shaped former cultural centre of Enver Hoxha now reimagined as an urban climbing and events space is one of the more surreal things you’ll walk past anywhere in Europe and one of the best spots for sunset watching in Tirana!
I’ve got a much more in-depth Tirana travel guide here if you want to know more.
For beaches, the Albanian Riviera is a bus ride south. Dhermi and Himarë are the ones worth targeting: turquoise water, good seafood and a coast that hasn’t been fully packaged yet. Prices have actually risen sharply in recent years, but it’s still significantly more affordable than Croatia or Greece.
Best time to visit: June or September; July and August are hot and increasingly busy on the coast.
Don’t miss: An evening in Blloku. Pick a terrace and stay longer than planned.
Book tours and experiences: GetYourGuide
Book accommodation: Booking.com
Ohrid, North Macedonia
Ohrid might be one of the most underrated places in the Balkans!
It sits on the shore of Lake Ohrid one of the oldest and clearest lakes in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site both culturally and naturally and it has the kind of old town that makes you feel like the modern tourism machine hasn’t found it yet. Partly because it largely hasn’t.
We booked a bus from Tirana and spent about a day and a half. We arrived at the bus station and walked down to the lake area. It was super affordable, people were so friendly and we ate trout straight from the lake!
Byzantine churches appear around corners. The Church of Saint John at Kaneo, perched on a cliff above the water, offers gorgeous views! We sat on a bench there for a little while and just watched life go by. The ancient amphitheatre discovered accidentally in 1980 still hosts concerts during the Ohrid Summer Festival every July and August (we also sat there and watched for a little while before heading to the cafe next to it for a quick coffee break).
The lake is impossibly clear, calm and warm enough by late summer that you’ll be getting in multiple times a day.
Getting there from Tirana is easy: regular buses, around three hours through dramatic Balkan scenery. Book a couple of days ahead in summer seats fill up. Also easy bus ride from Skopje, just over 3 hours.
Best time to visit: July and August for the Summer Festival; June and September for fewer crowds.
Don’t miss: Swimming at Kaneo beach at golden hour with the little church on the cliff above.
Book experiences: GetYourGuide
Getting there: Omio
Where to stay: Booking.com
Montenegro Coast
Montenegro isn’t as unknown as it was five years ago. But it’s still significantly cheaper and less crowded than Croatia, and the combination of medieval walled towns, dramatic Adriatic coastline and mountains that plunge straight into the sea makes it one of the most visually striking countries in Europe. Honestly, I was in awe of the mountains just sitting there behind the water. The scenery was absolutely stunning!
We drove around a bit but didn’t stop in Tivat nor Perast, which is meant to be lovely! We did stay in Budva and Kotor and spent an afternoon in Sveti Stefan before driving back to Tirana.
Kotor is the anchor: a UNESCO-listed walled old town pressed between a mountain and the bay. The Bay of Kotor itself ringed by peaks and dotted with the baroque village of Perast is the kind of scenery you have to see to believe. The hike up to the fortress above the old town is brutal and completely worth it. I actually wrote a guide to Kotor just the other day which you can read here for more information.
Budva is the livelier option, with a walled old town, good beaches and a nightlife scene that ranges from laidback to full Balkan summer carnage depending on where you end up. To me, it felt like it was more a holiday destination for Montenegrins than the international tourists crowding Kotor.
And Sveti Stefan, a 15th-century fortified islet that’s now an Aman resort, is one of those places you go specifically to look at from the public beach, feel appropriately wistful and swim in the clear water in front of it instead. Which is, honestly, a perfectly good afternoon.
Best time to visit: June or September; July and August are busy and peak-priced.
Don’t miss: A boat trip around the Bay of Kotor book through GetYourGuide
Where to stay: Kotor for old town atmosphere; Budva for beaches. Booking.com
Slovenia
Slovenia surprises everyone who goes. It’s tiny barely two million people sandwiched between Italy, Austria, Croatia and Hungary, quietly getting on with being one of the most beautiful places on the continent.
Ljubljana, the capital, feels almost impossibly pleasant. The old town is compact and largely car-free. The Ljubljanica river runs through the centre with café terraces lining both banks. The castle above the city gives you one of those views that makes a city break feel worth every penny.
Lake Bled, about an hour by bus from Ljubljana, is where people arrive slightly sceptical and leave genuinely bewildered that it actually looks like the photos. A glacial lake, an island with a Baroque church, a medieval castle on a cliff, the Julian Alps as the backdrop. It’s stunning!
The famous Bled cream cake kremna rezina, layers of custard and cream between flaky pastry is not optional. The lake gets busy in midsummer, but arriving at dawn before the day-trippers can be a game changer.
Best time to visit: June or September for fewer crowds at Bled. July and August are manageable if you get there early. Don’t miss: The traditional pletna boat to Bled Island and the cream cake afterwards.
Book experiences: GetYourGuide
Getting there: Omio
Where to stay: Booking.com
Kraków + Gdansk
Poland is one of Europe’s most consistent underperformers when it comes to tourism attention. Which makes it one of the continent’s best value destinations. Most travellers who go come back wondering why they waited so long. I was one of them.
Kraków is the starting point. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: grand Market Square, Gothic churches, the Renaissance Wawel Castle above the Vistula river and the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz now the city’s most interesting neighbourhood for bars, ceramics, vintage finds and some of the best food in the city.
Everything is walkable. The food is excellent and hearty. The price of a meal and a beer will make you feel faintly embarrassed about what you’ve been paying elsewhere in Europe. You can find my detailed Krakow city guide.
The day trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau is important and it’s one of the main reasons many people visit Kraków specifically. Book well in advance in summer through GetYourGuide for guided tours with transport included.
Then there’s the part most people don’t usually associate with Poland: beaches.
Gdańsk is a beautiful Hanseatic city its colourful merchant houses along Długi Targ are one of the great underappreciated old town streetscapes in Europe. Sopot, a 15-minute train ride away, is a Victorian seaside resort with Europe’s longest wooden pier, wide sandy beaches and a buzzing summer promenade.
The Baltic isn’t Mediterranean-warm, but water temperatures peak in August and late summer swimming is genuinely pleasant. Kraków for culture plus Gdańsk and Sopot for coast is one of the best underrated two-centre summer trips in Europe.
Best time to visit: June to August for the coast; Kraków is excellent any time
Don’t miss: Kazimierz for dinner and drinks in Kraków; the Sopot pier at sunset
Getting there: Fly into Kraków or Gdańsk trains connect the two via Omio
Where to stay: Booking.com
Bodrum, Turkey
This part of Turkey isn’t technically in Europe, but the Bodrum peninsula sits so close to the Greek islands that you can take a 20-minute ferry to Kos for a day trip. Which is exactly what you should do (just make sure to go to the right port, unlike me having to run in flip flops because I went to the wrong one!).
Bodrum town is whitewashed houses, bougainvillea-draped streets, a 15th-century Crusader castle overlooking the harbour and a promenade that comes alive in the evenings with a mix of international visitors and Istanbul’s summer crowd.
The Kos ferry is one of those small travel pleasures that feels more exciting than it should: 20 minutes by boat and you’re in Greece; different currency, different language, different culture. It runs daily in summer and you can book at the harbour.
The peninsula itself has a range of beach vibes; the busier, more package-tourist Gümbet on one side, the considerably more glamorous Türkbükü and Yalıkavak on the north, where the beach clubs are upscale and the crowd arrived by yacht.
Best time to visit: May to June or September to October July and August are very hot and peak busy.
Don’t miss: A day in Bodrum town even if you’re resort-based and the ferry to Kos book at the harbour in the morning. Book experiences: GetYourGuide
Where to stay: Booking.com
Practical Tips for Travelling the Underrated Side of Europe
Buses are better than you think in the Balkans The region is well connected by coach; Tirana to Ohrid, Ohrid to Skopje, Kotor to Dubrovnik and fares are very cheap. Book a day or two ahead in summer. For Poland and Slovenia, use Omio for trains.
Book accommodation earlier than you think you need to “Underrated” doesn’t mean empty in July and August. Ohrid, Kotor and Lake Bled all sell out. Search Booking.com and Hotels.com at least two to three months ahead for peak summer.
Carry some cash in the Balkans ATMs exist in major towns and card acceptance can be patchy at smaller restaurants, markets and bus stations. Euros are widely accepted in Albania, which makes life easier.
June and September are the magic months Across almost everything on this list, the shoulder of summer delivers near-identical weather with meaningfully fewer people and lower prices. If your dates have any flexibility, use it.
Pack smart The Balkans in summer means a lot of walking on uneven cobblestones, boat trips and spontaneous detours. A comfortable daypack, good walking sandals and a reusable water bottle will serve you better than a wheelie suitcase.
FAQ
The Western Balkans Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania are consistently undervisited relative to what they offer. Slovenia is criminally overlooked. Poland’s combination of Kraków and the Baltic coast is some of Europe’s best value. Bodrum gives you Turkey’s best coastline with genuine town character beyond the beach clubs.
Generally yes. Tirana, Ohrid, Kotor and Ljubljana are all considered safe with a strong culture of hospitality. Normal city precautions apply. Some parts of the Albanian Riviera have a reputation for pushy taxi drivers; ask your accommodation for recommendations rather than flagging one down.
The Albanian Riviera from Himarë or Dhermi for something genuinely different. Bodrum for a mix of beaches and real town life. Sopot on Poland’s Baltic coast for something completely unexpected. Montenegro’s coast is excellent but increasingly popular; book well ahead.
More expensive than the Balkans but significantly cheaper than Western Europe. Ljubljana is the priciest part and Lake Bled accommodation can be steep in peak season. Food and activities are good value throughout and it punches well above its price point for sheer beauty.
Absolutely it’s one of the best Balkans combinations going. Fly into Tirana, spend two or three days, take the bus to Ohrid (around three hours through beautiful mountain scenery) then fly home from Skopje or double back.
July and August for the Ohrid Summer Festival and the warmest lake swimming. June and September for significantly fewer crowds and almost identical weather.
Very much so. Bodrum town has real character; the Crusader castle, the market streets, the harbour at night that most all-inclusive guests never see. A day in town and the ferry to Kos makes an excellent addition to any beach week on the peninsula.
The Bottom Line
The best European summer is the one that works for you and your wallet. The places on this list might not give you Instagram’s greatest hits, but they will give you genuine experiences, affordable meals, fewer queues and the particular satisfaction of going somewhere most people haven’t thought to book yet.
That won’t last though, some of these are already starting to tip. Go while it’s still relatively undiscovered.
This was a post about the most underrated summer destinations in Europe.
